“God, I don’t know what to think, whether I should hope or not.” Kim’s voice broke. She waved her hand around. “You and I know survivors are not bloody likely. I’m probably in denial.”
“If you are, so am I. It’s not impossible someone’s alive. I’ve done some plane rescues in wooded areas after a controlled crash. I’ve found people alive before. There are valleys in those mountains where they might have landed reasonably safely.”
“Then why no communication? Why no beacon?”
“Cell phone service in those mountains is crap. Maybe any communication isn’t coming out?” Even here, at the base of the mountains, it was erratic.
There was hope. There had to be hope. Jake was an ornery retired Marine. He wouldn’t die easy. If anyone could survive, he could.
“You need me to get together a SAR team to go out there? I can gather volunteers,” Renee said.
“That’s the worst part!” Kim balled her hands into fists. “The plane’s last known location was on the Bulgarian side of the border. The Greeks and Turks need their permission to get helicopters to conduct a search. And, so far, we’re all getting the runaround. For some reason, the Bulgarians are all stirred up about planes in their airspace.”
“Shit.” Renee whistled to her dogs. Thor and Loki came to instant alert. She was going to need them. “Air’s not the only way to search. And boundaries are hard to guard in mountains like this. Do you have the coordinates of their last known location?”
“What?” Kim brushed away tears with her sleeve. “Renee, you can’t cross borders in an unauthorized search.”
“I can take a hike in the mountains with my dogs. And, oops, somehow I might bring one of those tracking signal gizmos with me to bring help in case I find survivors. What’s wrong with that?”
“You could be arrested or even killed.”
“For finding survivors of a crash?” Renee shrugged. “I doubt it.”
“What if your dogs are hurt or killed?”
Crap. She’d risk herself, but Thor and Loki? Renee began pacing, but there was barely six feet of open space in the cramped tent and she almost stumbled over her duffel bag in the corner. She stopped, petted her boys, and gave both dogs water and the last of the food in her plastic container, almost absently, trying to decide.
No, really, it was no decision. This was why they’d trained as a team: to save lives. And they enjoyed finding survivors. In many ways, she risked their lives every time she went out. This would be no different.
Kim collapsed back on the milk crate, evidently not ready to face the world just yet. This was a woman who juggled diplomats, local officials, soldiers and anyone else who had to be handled to save people. And now Kim couldn’t get any of it to work for the man she loved.
This is just not right.
The plane had to be within a day’s hike or so.
“Hang in there.” She handed Kim a tissue. “Get to work ordering the world around and find me the last known location of the plane. I’ll do the rest.”
Kim managed a weak smile. “I appreciate the thought but even you and your amazing dogs can’t go into the mountains alone on a mission like this. And since it might cross borders, it’s unauthorized, and I can’t send anyone from the camp with you, either.”
“And the locals have too much on their hands already with recovery. I know.” Renee straightened. “But I can handle it.”
“Really? You’d still try?” Kim gripped her shoulder. “No. You can’t go.” She stood. “I’ll get back to work with the Bulgarians. We’ll get choppers in the air within the hour. I won’t give up.” She cleared her throat. “But thanks, I was ready to, you know, fall apart.”
“You wouldn’t fall apart. You just needed a moment to break down. Go give ’em hell, okay?”
Kim nodded.
“But get me the last known location. Just in case.”
Kim put her hands on her hips.
“Look, I’ll stop at the border. If Jake’s alive, he’ll send out one of his dogs to bring people back to the crash site. Sirius and Orion know Thor and Loki. They trained together. It could save us hours of looking if they meet up.”
“That’s a long shot.”
“Long shots are exactly my thing. Get me the last known location.”
“I’ll think about it.” And Kim swept out of the tent.
Kim’s reluctance be damned. Renee was going out there, as soon as possible. She stepped out of the tent. The dogs trotted off to do their business. Renee shaded her eyes with her hand. Sunrise was just hitting the edges of the mountains in the east. She wondered if the crash survivors would see their first light as hope or if it would simply reveal to them the depth of their disaster.
If there were any survivors at all.
No, she’d not believe that. Everyone on that plane had been involved in relief operations. They were trained. They knew the drill. They wouldn’t lose hope; they’d keep it together, against all odds.
If anyone could survive, they could.
But Kim was right about one thing. She needed help if she was going out there. Hell, she needed an armed guard or else she might get shot like that sailor, Zach.
She grinned as Thor and Loki came trotting back. She knew exactly where to find her armed guards.
Daz woke at dawn, took a change of clothes to the river and washed off, as some of the locals were doing. He rubbed his chin on the way back, wishing he could shave. Beards were damned itchy when they came in. But he’d be able to get rid of it soon.
He increased his stride as he came over the rise. Gabe was already outside the tent, talking to someone. He tossed his clean T-shirt over his bare shoulder and put on his shades to block out the sun. A few more steps and he saw the dogs with the SAR vests. Aha. He grinned. He must have impressed Renee Black more than he thought yesterday.
As he approached, Gabe waved. Daz slowed. The wave meant Gabe wanted to tell him something that he didn’t want Renee to overhear. Gabe met him about twenty feet from their tent, where Renee was waiting.
“I got orders this morning,” Gabe reported in a low voice. “We’re to move out as soon as Zach is stable.” He glanced back at Renee. “That might be tomorrow.”
“I guess I’m hoping he’s feeling weaker.” Daz looked past Gabe. Like him, Renee had cleaned up a bit. And she still rocked a sleeveless T-shirt. “Is that a Deadpool logo on her T-shirt?” Gabe knew superheroes better than he did.
“Yep,” Gabe said. “Nice choice too.”
“Going to fight me for her?”
“I’d rather fight with her for you.”
“Hah.” Daz clapped him on the back. As they strolled back to the tent, Loki ran out to them, barking.
“Loki, mellon,” Renee called out.
Loki instantly stopped barking and trotted back to her.
“Isn’t mellon Elvish?” Gabe said when they reached her.
“Yeah.”
“Nerd,” Daz said.
“Well, yeah,” Gabe answered.
Daz would’ve thought their banter would have at least made Renee smile but instead she looked even more serious than yesterday.
“So what’s up? Afraid I’d leave before calling you?” he asked.
She didn’t smile back or respond to his flirting. Weird, if she was here to talk to him.
“No, well, yes. Maybe.” She took a deep breath. “But this is not the time to talk about that. I need your help.”
He tapped his bare chest. “Anything I can do for the prettiest girl in the camp, I’ll do.”
“Do you ever stop this charm thing?”
Damn, what would impress her? “No.”
“Then make this the first time because this is serious and I really need your help.”
Her voice broke. And were those tears drying on her cheek? Hell, get better at r
eading women, he told himself.
“I’m sorry. We’ll do what we can. Is there something wrong with the relief effort? What happened? What do you need?”
Anything that made this woman upset had to be something as serious as a rifle butt to the head.
She took a deep breath and knelt down to her dogs, maybe gaining time to compose herself. After a few seconds, she outlined the problem with the relief plane.
Shit. No wonder she was grim this morning. Over thirty people plus crew on that plane, not to mention the needed medical supplies, and the food, blankets and temporary shelters. Fuck. What a waste. He put his shirt on, all thoughts of flirting vanished.
“And the Bulgarians won’t give the Greeks or Turks permission to fly over the mountains and search. Kim said they were overly touchy for some reason.” She stood as she finished, her voice steadier.
Double fuck. The Bulgarians were being touchy because Daz and his team had just violated their airspace to recover the downed pilot and the parts of his spy plane. This mess was partially their fault. Not intentionally but still, he and his team were the reason they couldn’t get rescue planes in the air. The Bulgarians probably thought the rescue plane was just a cover story for some new incursion. They’d probably threaten to shoot any plane that was even close to their airspace.
“Okay, I understand all that. What I don’t understand is what you need from us,” he said.
“I’m going out on a search and rescue with Thor and Loki. I can’t do it alone. As the gunshot wound on your friend proves, there are touchy locals out there. I need guards. Armed guards.”
“And?” He hoped she wasn’t asking what he thought she was. But she definitely was. Dammit. Let her say it. It’d give him time to think.
“You’re here, you obviously know your way around the mountains, and you’re armed. Will you go with me and my dogs?”
Oh, hell, yeah, if it were up to him, he’d go with her in a heartbeat. But while his orders didn’t exactly prohibit him from going, he wasn’t exactly obeying them if he went with her either. “That’s not—”
“You won’t have to baby me. I’m wilderness trained.”
“I’ve no doubt of that,” he said.
“I have a general location and my dogs are air trained too, meaning they can scent people within a quarter of a mile. Plus, there’s a chance that the rescue dogs on the plane will be looking to find people and lead them back to the crash site.”
Her words came out fast, too fast, because she was nervous and, he guessed, because this meant so much to her.
“Why can’t someone from the relief camp go with you? The locals are going to know the area better.”
She shook her head, her curly hair falling over her forehead. “The locals have to worry about their own survival. And no one from the camp can go with me officially because there’ll be hell to pay if we accidentally cross into Bulgarian territory. I won’t let the relief effort be blamed. If it’s just me, they have plausible deniability.”
“But you’ll let us be blamed,” Gabe said.
“We’d all be in it together. Besides, I doubt it will come to crossing any borders.”
But it might, and if the Bulgarians guessed he and Gabe were part of the team that snuck into their country, well, there would be an international incident. That was just what their covert mission had been trying to avoid.
HQ would definitely say no if asked about going on this SAR. Make that hell no to any mission that would draw attention to his team having been in the mountains in the first place.
“Renee, I’m sorry, I’m not authorized to go,” he said.
“Not authorized? I thought you guys were on leave?” She cocked her head, practically daring him to contradict her.
Crap. “We have orders to report back soon.”
“Uh-huh.”
Despite the situation and his own frustration at having to say no, he smiled because she saw right through his bullshit reason for refusing her.
If he couldn’t help, he at least owed her something like a real answer.
“You were right about Zach’s gunshot wound, Renee. There are armed hostiles in the mountains. We were lucky to get away. It’s not safe. I can’t risk it again and neither can you.”
“If that’s true, then it’s true for any survivors of the crash. That’s all the more reason to find them ASAP.”
And she was right again. Daz looked at Gabe and he saw the same indecision on his face that must be on his own.
“There’s no one else, Daz. I have friends on that plane. And people here will die if we don’t get those supplies. I can do this. I have to do this.”
Her voice devolved into a whisper when she mentioned her friends.
“What about your SAR work here?” Gabe asked.
Good question, Daz thought.
“There’s another team here and besides, if we don’t get the meds from the plane fast, the people we’ve already rescued could die.”
“That’s if the supplies weren’t damaged in a crash. And that’s if there are any survivors.”
“It’s always an if when I go out. It’s never stopped me before. And there’s a good chance this was a controlled crash. It was a slow descent.”
“Last night, you worried I was going to bring trouble to the camp and now you’re going to trust me to guard your life?”
“I can’t sit around and do nothing. If I could, I wouldn’t be in this line of work.” She took a deep breath. “I know it’s desperate. But I’ll take the risk. Like I said, I can’t just do nothing.”
He wouldn’t be able to sit still in her place either. But, dammit, it was skirting orders to leave.
She grabbed his arm. “Daz, please. I know you must be qualified to do this. You’re a special forces team leader, right?”
Daz’s eyes narrowed. Dammit, he thought he’d not been that obvious. “Jesus, keep words like that quiet. Do you want to make us a target?” He looked over at Gabe. “Assessment?”
“It’s damned dangerous,” Gabe said. “And while it’s not technically disobeying orders, I can’t see us ever getting approval to go.”
Tell me something I don’t know. “Do we have equipment to head us in the right direction, given coordinates?”
“Yes,” Gabe said.
“Do we still have a radio beacon that can provide a location on a particular frequency?”
“Yes, but I don’t like where this is going. Sir.”
Gabe’s words reminded him what was at stake.
“So you will help me?” Renee asked, her voice rising.
If Daz’s commander decided he’d disobeyed orders, his career would be over. Of course, Daz didn’t have a direct order not to go. There was that.
Her shoulders slumped. “You won’t help.” She glared. “Forgive me for thinking either of you gave a damn.” She turned and whistled to her dogs. “Thor, Loki, let’s go.”
His team had stirred up those hostiles and created the situation with the Bulgarians. That was on him. And there was the old saying about orders: it was easier to apologize than ask permission.
“Wait,” Daz called out.
Gabe sighed. But he didn’t object.
Renee turned around. “You’ll do it?”
“You’re absolutely sure your dogs could find the crash site?”
“I have a better chance than anyone, at least until they get some search helicopters up there.”
Dammit, he knew his decision was influenced by his attraction to her. And, for all he knew, she could be interested the plane’s cargo for other than altruistic reasons. He’d known some relief workers who smuggled drugs. Food and water weren’t the only things on the black market. He was taking a huge risk, one that could cost him his command and his career. But he trusted his instincts. He’d always been good at evaluating personnel.
“Bad odds, impossible territory, and a pretty girl,” Gabe said. “You’re going to say yes, aren’t you?”
“Pretty girl?” Renee mumbled, staring at the ground.
“Exactly. I’m going to say yes.”
Renee’s eyes widened as hope seeped back into her.
“Thank you!”
Unexpectedly, he was buried in a hug. He hugged her back. Her hair smelled like strawberry vanilla. Oh so nice. And all he’d had to do to impress her was agree to risk his life. The woman set a high bar.
After he let her go, Renee kept her head down. Maybe she was embarrassed. He doubted she was a naturally huggy person.
“I have conditions. First, I’m the boss on this mission. I’ll keep us safe but only if you follow orders,” he said.
“Okay.”
She agreed to that a little too fast. So much for asserting his authority.
“And, second, we need supplies.” He rattled off a list, including rope, food and water. She repeated the list back to him perfectly.
“How fast can you get those?”
“I’ll be back in less than thirty minutes,” she said, and set off at a brisk pace, her dogs at her heels.
Cute ass, he thought.
“‘Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope,’” Gabe said, clapping him on the shoulder. “White knight to the rescue. There’s got to be an easier way to get laid, Sir.”
“I know, I know,” Daz said. “But she’s right to want to get to possible survivors fast, especially before our hostiles in the truck convoy find that plane. And it’s partially our fault the Bulgarians are being pissy about air space. You know that.”
“I know it. But that’s a good reason for us to stay away from this.”
“I joined the Navy to help people. Didn’t you?”
Gabe shook his head. “Speak for yourself. I got into it to troll you guys for dates.”
“There’s got to be an easier way to get laid, Gabe.”
Gabe laughed. “Guess we’re both nuts. But what do I tell HQ?”
“We’re supposed to stay until Zach is mobile, right? So he’s not mobile until I get back. What’s not following orders about that?”
“You? Wait, you’re going without me?”
Phoenix Inheritance Page 9